Several MPA faculty members
were aware of various portfolio models, such as the KU School of
Architecture and the California State University Department of
English portfolios, and we were interested in the potential benefits
of using a portfolio for our graduate students. One gain we anticipated
from portfolio use was that graduate students would be pushed to
participate in their own education:
1. They would need to identify their strengths, and
2. They would need to address their weaknesses.
The department already had open interactions among faculty, graduate
students, and professional practitioners, and we wanted to continue
that collaboration by working together on this project. Thus, the
portfolio project formally began with a meeting with KU faculty,
MPA students, alumni of the MPA program, and a facilitator from the
Department of Public Administration at West Virginia University,
which has a history of using portfolios in an academic setting.
As result of that meeting, we decided to use elements of several types of portfolios—all with an emphasis on reflective writing—with guiding questions for the students:
What are my goals and where do I want to be?
Over the past day, week, month, year, what has been my significant learning?
What experiences have changed me?
What is my present level of learning and what gaps in learning do I hope to fill in the near to immediate future?
How does my portfolio reflect that learning?
Public Administration faculty involved in the portfolio project include:
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 |
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| Ray Davis | Ray Hummert | Barbara Romzek |
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